Stone tools are arguable one of the most durable types of objects found in archaeological sites. They were also one of the first types of tools used by our hominid ancestors. As a result, stone tools are often one of the most important sources of evidence for the earliest stages of human development.

In the more recent archaeological record, stone tools are no less important as they were used in almost every facet of human society. Whether the hollow based concave projectile points of the Egyptian Predynastic, the Mayan chipped stone eccentrics, or the Acheulean hand axe, stone tools represent an incredibly wide range of human activity.

Even today, in an age of silicon chips, human made robots landing on mars, and the Internet, there are some groups around the globe that still rely on stone tools in their day to day activities.

As a result, archaeologists spend a great deal of time classifying stone tools, exploring how stone tools were made, and how stone tools were used

The Predynastic cemetery HK 43 at Hierakonpolis (Upper Egypt), which dates to 3600 BC, has the earliest recorded examples of hair extensions and hair die in the entire world.